Finding My Peace
by BroadBeginnings
Summary: A story 22 years after the events in Mockingbird. It is Beetee, near the end of his life, telling Katniss, Peeta, and their children about a peacekeeper and a young girl, madly in love. Whole Bio On Profile OcXOc
1. It Started With A Couple Of Kids

Dinner was unusually quiet, only hearing the sound of forks clanking off plates and the occasional compliment to the chef. After wards, they sat around a fire; two children, a happy couple, and an old man who neared the end of his life. Stories were being passed around before the old man spoke up, "Do you children want to hear a real, strange story?"

The couple peeked over, listening in as he continued, "It's interesting, really. I'm sure you've heard of the old society, the one before now."

The children nodded but said no more. The old man smiled and continued, "It was about 77 years ago, when this story takes place.

"It was the year of the 20th Hunger Game. It had become uniform by then, the reapings, the televised events. And, while I could tell you about the young man who was sent that year, I have a more interesting story to tell. One of a peacekeeper, and a distant little sister. \par  
"It started with a couple of kids. A few 14 year olds, like the young miss herself who made her way to the park. Now, the park wasn't much, maybe a couple of trees and a small bench to sit yourself in. They followed her around, trying to have a word or two. Maybe not to make friends with the child, but it certainly did have some intention, if not a good one. Whatever the reason, they had left their parents side and tracked the girl, if only to scare her into some emotion which she didn't seem to show...

_"Hey, Towress!" The small girl ignored the call, continuing on her path toward the most distant tree. The kids got close, one grabbing her arm before a booming voice called them._

_"Excuse me!" Said a man, who almost seemed to strut as he made his way forward, "What seems to be the problem here?" _

_Even without the uniform, the young man was recognized as a young peacekeeper, and what was frightening about that was the right fist, gripping tightly. "Mr. Karfer!" gasped the child who had handled the other's arm. "Mr. Karfer, there's no problem. You see, we were looking to play with Ms. Bently. When she ignored us, we thought something was wrong. So, we attempted to speak with her."_

_"Ms. Bently?" Echoed Mr. Karfer, small blue eyes shooting to the girl who still stared in another direction. She seemed as though she wouldn't give the time of day to the man, or the group of liars who held her in place. _

_"She's our friend," continued the boy, but then stopped when he realized she wouldn't play along in that part. _

_"She doesn't seem like she wants to be your friend, now go back to your mother. She nearly had a heart attack beside me when she realized you had gone off. Go on now!" He watched as the boys quickly dashed off to their spot. Once Towress had been set free, she continued to walk on. "Wait, Ms. Bently!" She stopped again, this time scowling outwardly and then returning her face to its poker appeal before turning around._

_"Yes?"  
_  
_He got a good look at the unfamiliar girl. He hadn't seen her before, which wasn't all that shocking considering he mainly watched over the lower class portion of District 3, where they lived. Her long, black hair had a wave going down her back, and the bangs framed her large, brown eyes that were hidden by large black glasses. By the looks of her dress, she was apart of the wealthy side of District 3. Not uncommon, or surprising.  
_  
_"Did you drop this?" He asked politely, his fisted hand reaching out to show a small, square battery. One used in factories to keep machines going longer. Some of the more inherited kids used them as backup when the battery of their hand-held laptops died out.  
_  
_She glanced at it before snatching it from his palm, "Thank you." She began to turn before pausing and raising a brow, "Oh, will that be all?"  
_  
_He still stared at her, but nodded lightly, careful not to have his blonde hair fall out of it's messy place around his head. As she walked away, he ran his fingers through the locks, pushing it back more, and watched her leave. _

_"Thank you, Mr. Karfer." One child's mother smiled, refreshed by the kindness of the new peacekeeper. He was nice enough, although many are at first._

_He bent at the waist to kiss her hand, and came back up to see the woman charmed. "Its not a problem, Mrs. Tyrite. But, I must ask you something."_

_She nodded at him, not minding the attention she was recieving. A 40 year old woman needs some care, as well. "Of course."_

_He calmly smiled and asked, "What can you tell me about the Bentlys?" _

_The question didn't shock her. In fact, she seemed as though she was asked a lot about the family. "Oh, the parents are talented people, often given awards for their hard work. The children..." She stopped herself, as though she was going to say something. "Well, they ceratinly got their parents brains. Beetee's a sweet child, just like his father. A loveable boy, really. However, Towress... I'm not exactly sure how she became the way she is. She's just... different."_

_"Different?" He repeated, unsure of what the woman had meant._

_Before he could ask another question, Mrs. Tyrite was called over to her station from a nearby factory, someone yelling out the large, metal doors to tell her that her break is over._

_Mr. Karfer scratched as his cheek, something that became a habit over time. _

_In his mind, he repeated the word.** Different.**_


	2. I'm Not Going To Kill You

_"She was a sweet girl at home, really, had her parents been around to witniss it. They probably knew about as much about Towress as any other person in District 3, besides her brother. Her brother loved her more than anything else, sometimes returning homes with small presents, like an extra battery or file-storer. Many times, she hid herself in the library of her home, surrounded by books she didn't often read. _

_She came home after a little while by her distant tree, calling, "I'm home!" to an empty space. Usually, at this time, her brother was out buying bread and meat for dinner. She really did love the small, square rolls that seemed so cute and suiting for the District; small, straightforward._

_Making her way to her usual place in the home's library, her eyes wondered out the window of the home to watch small children play amongst themselves with a ball. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as a peacekeeper stepped forward onto the path to pick up the ball after one tossed it too far. He seemed rather familiar, the white suited man. As he turned around, the face peaked her memory; the tall, blonde man from the park. She hadn't recognized him there, and by the heathly looking skin which he flaunted, he obviously wasn't from District 3._

_All in district 3 had the skin tone of ash. Their skin had paled and faded to grey tones after many days of factory work, and sitting on computers and machines in the dark. Yes, many loved their privacy, space, and dark. Which is a good thing, because the sun seemed dim in comparison to the laptops that burned their eyes at night. _  
_But his skin was bright, almost glowing as sunlight hit it, like snow. Blue, gentle eyes smiled for themselves and Towress vaguelly thought a model that sometimes appeared on the television to show the 'perfection' of the capital. Rolling her eyes, she lifted her legs and curled them close to her, wrapping her arms around them. Her eyes removed themselves from the window at some point, but not before she thought, Perfection, what a pretentious title._

_A click on the library door was heard, along with footsteps. Alerted, Towress sat up and quietly removed herself from her chair, reaching for an electric device she had made incase someone broke in while she was home alone. It was probably illegal to use on people, but that was okay. Rather a hanging than rape; its much quicker. _

_"Towress, are you here?" Beetee called, "I'm home early." He heard the buzzing of electricity before scoffing, "Put it away, I'm not going to kill you." She clicked a button, ending the electricity flow and smiling as she turned the corner. _

_"Welcome home, Beetee." He grinned at her and nodded his head to the door. They made their way to the kitchen and did what they did every day since their parents boomed in business. _

_Towress prepared the side dishes for them to chow on, occasionally nibbling on them as she waited for her brother to cook the meat. This was such a routine; shopping, cooking, clean up, and some down time. They stuck together, as they always had._

_"Mr. Karfer also noticed Towress in the window, his eyebrow raising as he watched her glaring in an opposite direction. Then, she stood, turned on something he hadn't seen before, and quietly stalked over in another direction. He curiously peeked inside, but couldn't see past the book shelves. _

_The man huffed, but didn't move out of stubbornness. He stood there until he realized he probably seemed pretty strange and then he left to get ready for work. _

_It didn't take long. He got home and slipped on his white work suit and the helmet to match, then left to the lower part of town. He noticed Mrs. Tyrite out of the corner of his eye and wondered if she'd offer anymore information. Instead, he went to the child, Benjamin Tyrite. _

_You weren't supposed to mingle during work, but it didn't matter much around here. All knew the harsh punishment of doing something wrong, and tend to stray from any trouble, other than talking to the peacekeepers, which wasn't an actual offense versus unwritten law._

_"Ben?" He called, looking in his usual spot of town. Benjamin was on one of the newer benches at the time. In his hand was a cup of tea, which was distrubed when he turned to face Mr. Karfer._

_He froze for a second before lightening up to Mr. Karfer's kind expression. "If you're looking for my mom, she's probably at home by now."_

_Mr. Karfer sat beside Ben, trying his hardest not to sound strange when he asked, "Ben, what can you tell me about Miss Bently?"_

_Ben hardened again and looked away, his green eyes shifted to the tea cup that he turned in his hand. "I wasn't picking on her, I swear." He peaked over to see Mr. Karfer smiling, with an eyebrow cocked. His hand tightened it's grip on the tea, "Oh, who cares about her anyway? Its not like she cares!"_

_Mr. Karfer was taken aback by the sudden response, unsure of what to say at first. "Did something happen between you and her?"_

_"What's to happen?" Ben snapped almost immediately, then paused before continuing more quietly, "She won't give any of us time to make things happen..." _

_He didn't know what to say to the boy after that. It was obvious that Ben may have had some sort of attraction to the girl, and it, more than likely, was not returned. His hand patted the boy's head before leaving him to his business. _

_After that, Mr. Karfer spent his day patrolling his sector, hanging around another young peacekeeper woman who seemed to have a warm heart towards him. Once the day was over, he turned in for the night, until he heard someone walking outside._

_It wasn't uncommon to hear people trudging around at late hours, coming home from a long day of work. But the footsteps made a clicking sound, like it was a woman in heels. Women don't wear heels in factories._

_Carefully, he rolled out of bed and threw on some clothes to sneak outside and check it out. What he saw, however, was a familiar face under a street light, a laptop in one hand and a battery in the other. He didn't wish to scare her but he didn't think before yelling out, "Miss Bently!"_

_She spun around instantly, eyes wide for only a second. He almost chuckled at her sudden disposition, though she seemed a bit different, and stepped forward, "Miss Bently, a face such as yours isn't what I enjoy seeing to late at night. Why, may I ask, are you not in bed?" _

_Something in her face changed, and, just like that, she took off running."_


End file.
